Be a Part of the Tradition: Calling for Volunteers for Azalea Festival Week

Be a Part of the Tradition: Calling for Volunteers for Azalea Festival Week

Greetings to all Port City Young Professionals! As the future (and in many cases, current) leaders of Wilmington, I am honored to be writing to you today. Your passion for this community, shown by your networking desire, your volunteerism, and your love of trying new things…leads me today to ask you to become involved in the longest-standing tradition and celebratory event in Wilmington – the North Carolina Azalea Festival!

We are celebrating our 71 st year this April 11-15, with a mission to be nationally recognized as a showcase for our community’s rich array of artwork, gardens, history, and culture through recreational, educational and family-oriented events. The Festival encourages volunteerism and civic participation as it contributes to the region’s economy and promotes the unique qualities of Wilmington’s river-to- the-sea community.

Volunteerism is a core part of our mission…and though we estimate we have around 1,000 volunteers already…we are looking for a few more! Specifically, we have a need for a handful of dedicated individuals to join our Hospitality committee. The Hospitality committee is tasked with making sure all Festival beverages (beer, wine, spirits, sodas, waters, etc.) that come from multiple places, arrive at each event and get picked up afterwards. (Yes, we have a committee for just this!).

With so many events, you can imagine the coordination this takes. We have SUPER fun chairs and co-chairs, Amy Dean and Emily Luther, who do a masterful job organizing all of this. However, they need your help!

We are looking for about 10 individuals who can devote about 3-5 hours during Festival week to help transport goods. These volunteers will need to be 21-years- old and in good physical shape, as they will be doing a lot of lifting of cases of beer, wine, spirits, etc. and moving them from location to location. (What a great chance to get a free workout while doing good!)

We are looking for 2-3 people who can help during each of the following shifts:

Tuesday, April 10 11 am – 2 pm

Wednesday, April 11 7 am – 11 am

Wednesday, April 11 12 pm –5 pm

Thursday, April 12 1 pm – 4 pm

Friday, April 13 3 pm – 5 pm

Saturday, April 14 11 am – 3 pm

Sunday, April 15 7 am – 1 pm

Volunteering on this committee is a great way to get involved in the Festival, as you will see various events and work with multiple event committees – and there is no stress involved. There are no planning meetings required; we’ll simply connect you to Amy and Emily for a quick introduction and then you show up at your shift, ready to volunteer. You may sign up for multiple shifts …we’d love to have you more involved!

All volunteers of the Festival are invited to a post-Festival Volunteer Party, with free food and beer and wine.

The date and location of the 2018 Volunteer Party is TBD, but it is always a great time and an amazing networking opportunity! We have almost 400 people at this event!

How to Sign Up

If you are interested in volunteering on the HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE, please email your name, phone number, and availability/requested shift to info@ncazaleafestival.org.

If you are interested in helping out in OTHER AREAS of the Festival, please fill out the general Volunteer Form on our website HERE. .

If you are interested in just attending signature Festival events, check out how to become a Festival Patron HERE.

Many, many thanks – and I hope to see you one way or another come Festival week, April 11-15, 2018!